OAMINAL SAYS: Ex-PDEA member can help prosecute drug "smugglers"

CEBU - Lawyer Clarence Paul Oaminal is requesting the Philippine National Police to help locate a police officer formerly assigned at the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency who reportedly can help successfully prosecute those who attempted to smuggle the P3.6 billion worth of pseudoephedrine to Cebu in 2004.

Oaminal, undersecretary of the Dangerous Drugs Board, said Sr. Insp. Prospero Bona can help prosecute the smugglers because he was the case officer of “Oplan Queen Lativa,” which yielded the seizure of the shabu precursor. 

The controversial seizure of the pseudoephedrine had linked former Cebu vice governor John Gregory “John-john” Osmeña to the case but the court recently exonerated Osmeña from charges.

But Oaminal said Bona can still execute an affidavit before the Undersecretary Ernesto Pineda of the Department of Justice, which can be used against Osmeña.  

Bona was pulled out from the PDEA after the government had decided to pull out all policemen assigned to the agency. Oaminal said this resulted to “crippling the chances of a successful prosecution of the case.”

In a related development, Oaminal had suggested that the DOJ just file another case against Osmeña instead of seeking reconsideration on the court’s order, which dismissed the case against him, especially if the DOJ can still gather new evidence against him. 

John-john was accused of conniving and acting as the protector of alleged illegal drug importers Mike Cummings and Dirk Hultz, but prosecutors failed to present strong evidence against him in court.

PDEA officials earlier claimed that Osmena was seen by the surveillance team entertaining Australians Leslie James Norton and Rodney Allan James who have been sentenced to imprisonment by a court in Australia for attempting to smuggle pseudoephedrine.

Osmeña’s lawyer, Edgar Gica, claimed that the charges against his client were but politically motivated. – Rene U. Borromeo/JMO (THE FREEMAN)